Types of Stanzas

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Stanza or Verse -- two or more lines grouped together / four lines grouped together is most common
  • Couplet -- a unit of two lines that end in perfect rhyme / the basic unit of English poetry
  • Tercet -- a unit of three lines
  • Quatrain (Quartet) -- a group of four lines with a recurring rhyme scheme
  • Quintain (Quintet) -- a group of five lines with a recurring rhyme scheme
  • Sestet -- a group of six lines with a recurring rhyme scheme
  • Septet -- a group of seven lines with a recurring rhyme scheme
  • Octave -- a group of eight lines with recurring rhyme scheme

(Adapted from Charters/Charters, Literature and Its Writers, Compact Second Edition, Chapters 8-11, and A Handbook to Literature, 9th edition.)